Rec center privatization plan pulled from Board of Estimates agenda

In an unusual move, Baltimore City Recreation and Parks officials confirmed this afternoon that they have decided to defer their recreation center privatization plan and pull it from the Board of Estimates agenda, where it had been scheduled to come up for a vote tomorrow.

The spending panel had been expected to vote on a proposal to hand over management of six centers to four private groups but, as the Baltimore Sun reported on Monday, the bid were being withdrawn. Recreation and Parks officials said the vote has been deferred to the Wed., Dec. 21, meeting.

The move comes hours after The Brew disclosed, in an exclusive report, that its review of the operators’ bid documents on file with the city show that one of them has thin resources and another has had a history of financial difficulties. A third, meanwhile, wants to convert two centers into substance abuse and psychiatric service centers, The Brew disclosed.